To Will and To Work
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So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Human effort is engaged in holy living but does not itself produce holiness. Selfless righteousness and sacrificial love are never self-induced. Attempts to conform our character to God’s requirements by the sufficiency of our actions are as arrogant as efforts to save souls by our talents. [We] must become well-acquainted with the grace [our] character requires. - Bryan Chapell
In other words, while we must, as Christians, strive to live holy so as to shine the light of Christ into the world, we have to remember that though it does require our effort, it is not something that we do in our own power.
In fact, it isn’t something we can do in our power.
And that may sound strange at first. That we can’t live holy lives in our own power.
Especially considering I and the teaching team come up here week after week and preach the Word of God and then talk about what we have to do in light of it. We suggest the actions we can take in order to live out the truth that we hear every week when we come together, in order to become holy unto God.
But please don’t think that we do is akin to a teacher assigning homework to students. It isn’t a list of assignments that you have to do to be ready for a test. No. Just like the preached Word, any application that we offer you is about Christ.
Because if you are in Christ, Christ already passed the test for you. Nothing you do can change that. You didn’t do anything to receive salvation, so you can’t do anything to lose it.
It is about experiencing Christ. It’s about growing in Christ. It is about knowing the God Who works in us as we work to strive for the holiness we are called to. Because it is His work.
Remember this: holiness is not achieved, it is received. Salvation - in all its wonderful aspects - is the Lord’s work. From the moment we believed and were made objectively holy - to the moment He returns in glory and our holiness is complete - and every moment in between - it is God Who works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
It is His work.
And that is exactly why we can’t just sit back and do nothing. We need to strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
And it may sound to you like I am saying our holiness is 100% God’s work and at the same time saying it’s something we have to work for. It may sound to you like I am saying that God is the only One Who can work holiness in us yet at the same time we are responsible to work for it.
It may sound like I’m saying only God can do it, but it won’t happen unless we do it.
If you think that, thank you for listening. That is exactly what I’m saying. Because the Bible makes both of these very clear. God makes us holy, but we have to strive for holiness.
So I want us to understand what our role is. I want us to understand how fulfilling our role is part of how God works this holiness in us.
But even more, I want us to understand God’s role in our holiness, and our great need for Christ to work it in us.
So, if you can say with a clear conscience “I am already holy enough,” then go ahead and tune out. I won’t be insulted. But if you want to know how God wants to make you holy, then I ask you to listen to what I have to say today.
Prayer for no distractions
That brings us to our passage for today. One of my favorite in the New Testament. I probably refer to this passage more than any other.
But first let’s understand what Paul just said leading up to this. Right before this is that whole “to live is Christ and to die is gain” section of the letter. And that “to live is Christ” means, very simply, that Paul’s life is all about Christ.
Christ is his life. His life is all for Christ.
And that’s the same for us. Our lives are all about Him. Every part of this life is about Christ.
That’s why Paul goes on to insist that Christians live in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. And Paul says to the Philippian church not to do it to please him. Not because he said so. Paul said he may not even be there to see them do it.
He says to do it for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. And he says that living this out will be proof to all that God is and that God has saved them. And to live that out, Paul says they have to live firmly in their faith.
Then he says:
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
Paul begins this section with a series of rhetorical "ifs.” They are not questions he wants answers to. He says “if” there are any of these things, but what He is saying is that there are. There is encouragement in Christ. He begins with Christ. That’s what Paul always does!
Everything in this life is about Christ. He is the starting point. If we do not base our lives on Christ and Who He is, then we are not living lives worthy of the Gospel of Christ. In other words, if it isn’t all about Christ, then we are not living the life Christ died and rose again for us to live. We are not living in the objective encouragement that comes from Christ alone.
But if we are seeking to live that out, and if Christ is the source of our encouragement - which He is! - then we have all of these things, there is no “if” about it: we have comfort in the love of Christ, we have been made one with Him through the Spirit, and we will have compassion for all those who have Christ as their source of encouragement.
But I want to note that Paul is doing something here with what he says. In chapter one, Paul talks about Christ a lot. He invokes His name 18 times in chapter 1 and then starts off chapter 2 talking about Christ as our source of encouragement.
In the first chapter, he mentions the Holy Spirit once Who he calls the “Spirit of Jesus Christ.” There, he is talking about how Christ will sustain him through his imprisonment by the Spirit.
But here, Paul is turning our attention to the Spirit in a very specific way. Because note that encouragement comes from Christ, and that encouragement produces comfort and affection. Jesus is the source - He works these in us. They are all received.
But here Paul rhetorically asks if there is any participation in the Spirit. The word “participation” speaks to fellowship or contribution among two or more people. And remember that Paul is actually saying that there is participation in the Spirit among those that stand on the foundation of Christ. On all Paul has already talked about up until this point.
We have this participation “in,” or “of,” the Spirit, Whom we have received. We have this relationship to the Spirit that is about fellowship and mutual contribution. And even that is given by Christ.
What Paul is doing is turning our attention from the what of our salvation to the how. And they are both Whos. They are Persons.
Jesus is the Who Who’s the what. The Spirit is the Who Who’s the how. That’s fun to say.
Jesus is the Who of our faith because He - His Person and work - that’s what it’s all about. That’s not just what we believe, it’s what has made us what we are. So it’s all about Christ.
Our faith. Our worship. Our religion. Our lives.
But by His Spirit, He works the “how” of our faith. Through this fellowship of the Spirit, we are enabled to live out our salvation in Christ. This fellowship - this participation - is how we live the what.
And that is why Paul makes this subtle shift by talking about all of the objective realities that are ours in Christ, to the means of living them out. He uses all the “this is what Christ did so this is what you have been given” to say to us “this is how you contribute.”
And our encouragement, the Spirit, our comfort, and even our contribution are all received.
It is God’s work, but we are responsible to do it.
And that’s why he now begins to give some application of it all. He tells us what we do because of we have received, including the Holy Spirit:
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Notice how similar this all is to what we saw a couple of weeks ago when Peter talks about living out our salvation.
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
We saw how Peter bookends the love between sympathy and affection, and a unified and humble mind.
Paul does the same exact thing here.
Again:
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
He talks about the inward affection and sympathy, and then gives instructions in being of the same mind, being in full accord and of one mind. And in between this singleness of mind he sandwiches love.
Again, how we think will determine how we act. And Paul says that Who Christ is and what He has done have given us the right mind and the right affections, and now we have to live that out. We have received it, now we have to live it.
We each participate in the Spirit - we are each in fellowship with the Spirit and Christ through the Spirit - and so we are in fellowship with each other. So we also participate - all of us - in the Spirit.
And because we do, we can - and we must - be of the same mind, in full accord, and of one mind. Three different ways Paul calls for us to be unified in how we think about our common salvation and faith. In how we understand Christ and Who He is. In how we live out the “what” of Christ’s finished work.
And to do that, we need to be unified in love. We need to have the same love. That is the mind we are to have and the action we are to take. Love.
What love? The love of Christ. We live that love out. We show that love to each other and the world.
And how do we do that?
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
If Paul wanted to say to a 21st century Christian audience: “be different from the world,” he couldn’t have said it any better than this. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Selfish ambition. Conceit. That is the way of the world. Living as if it’s all about me. I decide who I am, what I do, what I don’t have to do, what’s right and wrong, what’s “true for me,” what’s important, what I deserve, and the list goes on and on.
Me, me, me, me, me, me!
The world tells me it’s all about me. The world does not encourage humility. Watch a professional sporting event, listen to an interview with a Hollywood actor or music star, or watch a political debate. It is all about the “me.”
And do you know what, it’s easy to fall right into that. You know why? Because that comes so naturally to everyone. The natural man is all about “me.” From the moment Adam and Eve took the fruit, man became about “me.”
And those of the world - those who remain in Adam - they remain all about “me.” And we won’t rehash it all, but we have already seen that this spirit of selfishness has invaded Christianity, too. And that’s why so many in the Western church - including many pastors and leaders - are all about “me.”
But that’s wrong. Paul has already said Who it’s all about. He has taken great pains to make it clear. It’s all about Christ. And because of Who He is and what He’s done, we have an objective and true foundation for everything - our faith, our worship, our religion, and our lives.
Our identity, our morality, our priorities - and what we deserve.
And because we stand in this truth and on this foundation, we have participation with the Spirit Who gives us this one mind. And that mind is how we live out the Gospel. That mind is how we don’t say “me, me, me.” We say “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”
But, of course, we don’t always say that, do we? We still fight with the old nature. Sometimes it’s “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” But other times it’s “me, me, me.” Most times it’s “Jesus but kinda me and sometimes - or usually - more me than Jesus, so “me, Jesus, me?” Maybe on a good day, “Jesus, Jesus, some of me, Jesus?”
But Paul here is telling that we have to have the mind that says “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” and only “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” And we do that when our minds - the way we think - works itself out in love.
What we think affects what we do, but what we do - by the power of the Spirit - will affect how we think.
And just like we saw with Peter a few weeks ago, this mind - this way we are to think - comes down to humility. In humility, we need count others more significant than ourselves, Paul says. And this, of course, starts with Jesus.
We need strive to see Jesus as more significant than ourselves in every circumstance. That is where holiness starts. That is where being set apart unto Him works itself out.
And while that sounds so obvious to us because we’re Christians, right? - “of course Jesus is more important than me!” - it is far easier said than done, isn’t it? When that moment of decision comes - which it does a thousand times a day - and we can please ourselves or please God, w/Who is more significant? How often do we choose ourselves?
That is not the mind of Christ. Christ did nothing to please Himself. We need to have that mind and live that out.
And that is what holiness is. Living unto Him. Putting aside the “me” and my perceived kingdom for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.
That is exactly what we don’t see in many of our political leaders. They don’t put aside the “me.” That is what we don’t see in most of the rich and famous with a forum to give their opinions - though why anyone thinks a famous actor, musician, or athlete is any kind of authority on anything but acting, music, or sports is beyond me.
That is what we don’t see in the media or on Instagram. That’s what we don’t see in so-called influencers. That is what we don’t see in most people we are going to come across in this world.
We do not see humility. We do not see a mind that does nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. We do not see the actions that flow from a mind that, in humility, counts others more important than itself.
Where do we see this?
In Christ.
Paul says:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Actually, this literally says “have this mind among yourselves which is also in Christ Jesus.”
And that is an important distinction. Because that means that this one mind - this unity - this being of one accord that Paul is driving home in so many ways - this one mind is one that we share not just with each other, but with Jesus.
We have been given the mind of Christ.
Participation in the Spirit is participation in Christ. Having His mind. Having His love.
And having His humility.
And what a humility it is.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
That is the Gospel! The humility of Christ resulting in our salvation.
If anyone ever deserved to say “me, me, me” it’s Christ. And He is the only Person Who wouldn’t be sinful in saying it. But Jesus didn’t say “me, me, me.” He said “you, you, and you.”
God the Son, equal in glory and power and deity with the Father and the Spirit - the eternal Word of God through Whom everything that was made was made - He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. That’s unfathomable.
Jesus let go of the “me” for our sake. He let go of His prerogatives as God so He could take a hold of us.
He laid down what He deserved so He could take what we deserve.
He emptied His hands of His rights so they could be nailed to a cross for our sake.
Think about what Paul is saying. Christ humbled Himself by taking on humanity. God condescended to become man. He didn’t cease to be God. And that’s the amazing part. The true God of the universe - God - came in humanity and entered into the world He created.
That is humility.
But there’s more. Because Paul talks about this amazing condescension of God. How He laid aside His rights to come as One of us. But His humility didn’t stop there. He took on the form of a servant, and then humbled Himself even further.
God humbled Himself by taking on humanity; then as human, He humbled Himself further than most humans ever do. Being found in human form, He humbled Himself to the point of death.
But not just death. He didn’t just humble Himself to be killed. He allowed sinful man to kill Him in the most humiliating way possible.
God humbled Himself to become man. That man humbled Himself by giving Himself over to the condemnation of death. That condemned man humbled Himself enough to be put on a cross. To die the humiliating death of a criminal at the hand of sinners.
And note: for Christ, that was obedience.
That was obeying the Father and doing His will. That was fulfilling the calling on His life. Lowering Himself that low for our sake. Loving like He was called to love. Living like He was called to live. Not being selfish, but looking to the interest of others.
Looking to my interest. To yours.
Doing literally nothing from selfish ambition of conceit.
Christ’s incarnation, suffering, and death on a cross is perfect love, perfect humility, and perfect obedience.
Christ carried His cross. He was nailed to the cross with our sins upon Him. And He suffered and died to take the penalty of sin in our place.
But God was not done!
Christ paid the wages of sin on the cross with His death, but He did not stay dead. He was raised on the third day, finishing His victory over sin and death.
And then He was raised back to His rightful place in heaven, where He sits on His throne.
Paul says God the Son humbled Himself and humbled Himself and humbled Himself, so:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Christ reigns.
Christ reigns because He humbled Himself. Because He took on humanity. Because He died on the cross. Because He was obedient. Because of all He did, therefore God has highly exalted Him and given the name above all names.
Paul is again rooting who we are in Who Christ is. He is rooting what we are to do in what Christ did. He is rooting how we are to think in the mind that Christ has. So He points us - once again - to Christ.
And Paul covers in these four verses the entire earthly ministry of Christ - His birth, life, death, and resurrection and ascension. He tells us all Christ did and why.
And then He tells us what He is yet to do. He ascended so that one day He will return and all men everywhere will know the truth, and the glory of God will cover the entire creation:
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Christ reigns, and though we can’t see it, all people are commanded to bow before Him. And for those who don’t in this life, they will in the next. Every knee in heaven - the departed saints. Every knee on earth - those who are alive and remain at His coming. Every knee under the earth - the dead apart from Christ.
At the name of Jesus, we will all bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and the glory of God will be known in the whole creation.
Why?
Because Christ came, Christ humbled Himself, Christ obeyed, and Christ counted us as more significant than even His own life. He looked not to His interests, but to ours.
He is the starting point. Who He is and what He has done is our foundation. But He is also the end point. He is the goal. He is our reward.
Paul is saying that Jesus Christ is the starting point and the end point, because Paul is saying that Jesus Christ is the point.
He talks of our salvation - of our complete salvation - here in this passage. He speaks of Christ’s death that atoned for our sin and justified us before God. He speaks of His return when we will be glorified and part of the New Heaven and New Earth where Christ will visibly reign.
Justification and glorification.
As Paul says elsewhere:
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Hallelujah and Amen!
He did it! He will do it!
But what about in between.
Paul talks about that, too. That’s actually the point Paul is making in this passage. He lays out all Christ has done as our foundation. He points to our sure end so that we know our salvation will without a doubt be complete at His coming.
He holds up Christ as the example of how we live - with the mind of Christ and the participation of the Spirit that unites us to Christ and gives us that mind.
Now, Paul tells us we have to live that out.
You have probably heard me say this, but the whole idea that works are not required for salvation is incorrect.
We have to think of salvation like Paul does - as a whole salvation. There is the part of salvation where we are declared righteous before God because all of our sins are paid for at the cross. That is what we usually mean when we talk about someone being “saved.” The fact that they believe their punishment for sin has been accomplished by Christ.
But there is a future salvation. The day every knee will bow and and every tongue confess Jesus as Lord. That’s the day He will return in glory and share that glory with us, and our salvation will be complete.
That is the day that the very presence of sin will be removed by Christ.
And there is a present salvation. A salvation that day by day - including today - saves us from the power sin holds over us in this life. That is the holiness we are to strive for.
And every part of this salvation - our past salvation: what is done, our future salvation: what will be done, and our present, ongoing salvation: what is being done - it is accomplished by works.
Our justification was received because of the work of Jesus Christ. He worked it in us. Our glorification will be received because of the work of Christ. He will work it in us.
Our present and increasing holiness is received because of the work of Christ, that He works through us.
Have you noticed that God has always chosen to work His salvation through people? That is what the Bible records for us. This is what separates Christianity from all other religions. God worked in time, in real history, through real people.
From Noah, to Joseph, to Moses, to Joshua, to the judges, to David, to Cyrus, to Esther, to Judas Maccabeus, to Mary the mother of Jesus - through to the Apostles and the church who bear the message of the Gospel. None of this salvation happens without God, but none of it happens without human work.
Thank God He uses humans to carry out His perfect will - even when it meant He had to take on humanity to do it.
Jesus of Nazareth accomplished our salvation at the cross. He will accomplish it at His physical return. God and man do the work in the incarnation of Christ.
God and man now carry out salvation. And who are those that God uses now to carry out His salvation?
We are.
Salvation for all the elect. Including our ongoing salvation right now.
Every aspect of our salvation is based on works:
Justification and glorification - work of the God-Man
Sanctification - work of God and man
too many focus on the first and last - get saved to have your eternity secured - believe what Christ did so you get what He will do.
What about now?
First bar/last bar of a song is not a song
First scene of a movie and the last scene don’t make a movie
The lines "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth” and then “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all, Amen” don’t make the Bible
Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension, and return don’t make a whole salvation. His salvation is being worked right now - at this very moment.
His salvation is holiness in the here-and-now. The holiness we strive for.
And that is Paul’s point. All He has written here about Christ and His work - both past and future - were and will be done, because there is still work to do.
Look to Christ, His death, His resurrection, His ascension. Look to our living hope - Christ when He returns.
Look at our salvation. Christ has done it. Christ will yet do it...
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
We probably all know these verses. I have heard them preached dozens of times. You probably have, too.
But we cannot remove them from all that Paul just said. This is not a “just do it!” to Christians. This is not telling us to put on our big-boy pants and do what needs doing.
This is not just “go and work out your salvation.”
This is “Christ did it. Christ will do it. Christ is doing it. So now you can do it.”
Paul is pointing to Christ and the grace of God in His suffering and death. He is pointing to the grace of God in His inevitable return.
And He is pointing out that even the ability and the desire to do grow in holiness is only by the grace of God.
He is telling us that we have a responsibility to grow in holiness, but he is telling us that it is God that does it.
Through the Holy Spirit with Whom we participate - enabled by the mind of Christ He has given us - we can now actually want to grow in holiness. God works in us to will.
Through the Holy Spirit Whom we have received. Through the salvation we have already received. Through the humble, selfless mind of Christ that we have received, God works in us to work. To grow in holiness.
Our salvation includes not just the “what,” but the “how” of holiness - the want to and the power - for our salvation that is happening right now.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV)
For this is the will of God, your sanctification
2 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV)
God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
1 Peter 1:2 (ESV)
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
Look at all that God has done.
What will we do with that?
We need to work. We must strive for holiness.
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
With the mind of Christ, we humble ourselves and like Jesus become servants. We must strive to be servants of Christ Who humbled Himself and became a servant.
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is a free gift. It is grace.
Christ is the starting point - Who He is and what He has done.
Christ is the end - He is the goal, He is the reward, and He is the perfecter of our faith.
Christ is everything in between. He is why we’re here. He is why we do what we do. He - by His Spirit - is how we want to do it.
And He - by His Spirit - is how we do it.
We have the mind of Christ. We have fellowship with Christ because we have the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of the living God - living in us. We have received all of these.
But God is not done!
And Christ wants to give us even more! He wants to give us holiness. He wants to give us more of that mind we share with Him, so we can live out more of Him. His love. His humility. His power!
He wants us to live lives that say “to live is Christ” so that the world may see Him and live.
So we can’t leave out the middle. We are being saved. And we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling because it is God Who works in us both to want to, and empowers us to do.
If we are not striving for holiness - if we are satisfied what Christ has done and we are satisfied with waiting for what He will do in eternity and forget the salvation He wants to work in us right now - it’s like expecting to get to the other side of a bridge without fulfilling our responsibility to cross the bridge.
But here we are. On the bridge. The bridge that links His finished work with His return. He has built the bridge.
We need to step out onto the bridge.
And we need to move toward holiness.
We need to turn toward Christ and participate in Him by the Spirit.
Turn to Christ this morning - for the first time (saved not by our works, but by His) - empty your hands and let Him fill them
Maybe we need to turn to Him once again (repent and move toward holiness) - empty your hands in confession and receive forgiveness - and the grace to be holy
Maybe we need to commit more (remember that we are being saved by His work, through our work) - empty your hands - whatever you hold on to that isn’t of Christ, let it go and let Him fill your hands with more of Him
Because it is all based on Christ. He did it. He will do it. He is doing it.
To live is Christ.
We need God’s grace to want to do.
We need God’s grace to do.
Thank God, His grace knows no end.
Philippians 2:12–16 (ESV)
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life
Empty your hands, and hold fast to Jesus.
